History

The first cathedral built for Naga was founded after the Diocese of Caceres was established in 1595. It is a suffragan of the Diocese of Manila created by papal bull of August 14, 1595, which also elevated the Diocese of Manila into an archdiocese. The church was destroyed by fire in 1768.

The construction of the present cathedral in Spanish Romanesque Revival Style was begun by Bishop Bernardo de la Concepcion in 1808. An earthquake in 1820 damaged the cathedral. It was finished and consecrated under the administration of Tomas Ladron de Guevara in 1843. It was damaged by a typhoon in October 1856, and restored by Francisco Gainza in 1862–1879. It was damaged by an earthquake in 1887, and repaired by Obras Publicas under the direction of Bishop Arsenio del Campo and Ricardo Ayuso in 1890.

During the episcopate of Leonardo Zamora Legaspi, the cathedral was restored beginning in April 1987 under the supervision of Jaime M. San Andres, parish priest of the Saint John the Evangelist Parish, Naga City. On February 6, 1988, during the feast of Saint Pedo Bautista, titular patron of the archdiocese, the metropolitan cathedral was again inaugurated and rededicated by Archbishop Legaspi together with other Bicolano bishops and priests.

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